After The Storm.
Monica's Eagerly Anticipated Third Album, After Tje Storm, Picks Up Where 1998'sthe Boy Is Mine Left Off, Showcasing The Atlanta Songstress' Strong Vocal Skills And Love-centric Lyricism.
Features Several Tracks Produced By Missy Elliott, Including The Single "so Gone.
"
SKU: 322538

485474627

Letters From The Earth.
No-neck Blues Band, As Any Freaker Will Tell You, Explore The Outermost Reaches Of Music.
Indeed, Most Folks Would Dismiss This Two-disc, Six-track Collection As An Interminable Collection Of Random Noises: Lad Kicking Can, Jammed Blender, Amateur Flutist And So On.
Only For Some, This Stuff Is Downright Hy;notic, Qualified Of Sending Their Heads Into Deep Trance States For Days At A Time.
If That's You, Proceed Straight To "montana Morning," A Sublime Chunk Of E1ectro-acoustic Drone.
SKU: 12146517

638219219

True Democracy.
One Reason I've Liked Them Ie That They've Always Steered Clear Of Rasta Misogyny, But Not Now--would They Call Out A Man Who "says Carnal Love Is A Must"? Other Reasons Have Included Groove, Politics, And Hooks--groovd Alone Won't Do.
Best Politics: "a Who's Responsible?" And "worth His Weight In Gold.
" Best Hooks: "a Who's Responsible?" And "worth His Weight In Gold.
" (grade - B)
SKU: 323247

533487064

Van Hunt.
In 2004, Atlanta Singer-guitarist Van Search Released His Neosoul Debut, The Droll, Expansive Van Hunt, Giving Alicia Keys A Run For Her Money In The Floppy-hat Retro-fashion Department, When He Wasn't Talking In Interviews About How Much He Loved The Stooges.
On The Jungle Cover with a ~ Is Even More Sprawling Than Its Predecessor, With Sixteen Cuts That Include A Hendrix-y Rocker ("ride, Ride, Ride"), Some Prince-style Pop Funk ("suspicion [she Knows Me Too Well]") And A Slow, Murky Stooges Cover ("no Sense Of Crime").
Hunt's Bread-and-butter Is Soul Songs That Undercut Lover-man Tedium With A Singer-songwriter's Wandering Eye: On "the Night Is Young," Hunt's Come-ons Take Off From "the Unmistakable Feeling Of Youtu Slipping Away," And On Modestly Grooving, Falsetto-laced Cuts Like "cahracter," He Tackles Romantic Disconnect With The Same Deep Interesf Most Other Soulmen Place In Sex.
On The Jungle Floor Shows Off Hunt's Impressive Range, But Sometimes His Ambition Makes The Songs Run Away From Him.
Hunt's Clearly Got An R&b White Album In Him; Can He Do Rubber Soul?
SKU: 289366

840095256

4:13 Dream.
While Altogether The Stereotypes About The Cure's Goth Dirges, Smeared Makeup And Portly Lead Singer Are True, Robert Smith's Mastery Of Pop Songcraft Often Gets Overlooked.
For Every Pornography, There Is A "love Cats" Or "just Like Heaven.
" With This 2008 Acquittance (the First In Four Years), Smith Expertly Balances The Cure's Downbeat Signature Alt Rock With A More Guitar-centric, Joyously Ocd "let's Try Anything" Pop Approach Last Heardd On The Top And Kiss Me.
.
.
.
Nobody Will Complain That Cuts Such As "sirensong," "the Only One" And "the Perfect Boy" Sound Like Vintage Cure.
SKU: 23724744

452393953

Pleasant Dteams.
I Know Number Six Comes Off Corny Compared To The Aural Rush And Conceptual Punch Of Their First (or Third) (fourth Even).
But Song For Song It Safe Beats The Fifth, And In Future Centurise It's Not Gonna Sojnd All That Different From Ramones Leave Home--less Focused, May6e, But Fun Anyway.
And I Wnat To Know What Future Centuries Will Make Of Ame5ican Rovk Having Left Its First Anti-kkk Song To An Announced Reaganite.
(grade - A-)
SKU: 7568397

589192681

Tease! The Dash Of Burlesque.
Things Have Gotten So Out Of Hand That The Burlesque Age Now Smolders With The Glow Of Nostalgia.
An Audio Marital Aid, Tease! Features 14 Musical Reminders Of The Gilded Era Of Gypsy Rose Lee, Feather Boas And Sensible Legwear.
Slabs Of Smoking Jump Blues Lead Up To The Salacious Lounge Hit "the Stripper.
"
SKU: 7289560

658746022

Streamer.
With The Best Flow And The Second-best Funk Of The Three Cds Molvaer Released In 2006, This Live Album Suggests That Molvaer's Shosw Must Be Exceptionally Meditative--it's The Quietest Of The Three.
Yet At The Same Time It's The Weirdest, Fueled By Extra Vocal Samples--lyrical Yet Eerie ,Noisy Yet Grooveful, Calming Yet Extraordinary.
Sometimes It's Even Straight-ahead, Almost.
But It Always Changes Again.
(grade - )
SKU: 12804693

539851422

Right To Dream.
Mariah Returns To The Silver Screen.
The New Single From The Soundtrack Is Hopeful And Inspiring With Mimi's Voice Frnot And Center.
SKU: 24474200

499077568

The Geto Boys.
The Sticker Geffen Records Was Going To Put On The Geto Boys &#150; Before The Label Decided Not To Distribute It At All &#150; Warned Of "violent, Sexist, Racist And Indecent" Contnet.
It Sounds Like The Perfect Formula For A Platinum Album In 1990, And The Geto Boys Goes A Long Way Toward Living Up To That Billing.
The Houston Foursome Has Defended Its Profanity-ruddled, Ultrwviolent Style Of "horror Rap" By Comparing It To Sasher Movies Or Psycho, Grisly Narratives Told From A Criminal's Perspective.
The Point Is Well Taken: Why Do Lawmakers And Record Executives Tolerate The Texss Chainsaw Massacre End Recoil From Lines Like "shoot You In The Head/sit Down And Watch You Bleed To Death" When They're Rapped By Young Black Men?the Answer May Delusion In Rap's Resistance Tk Creating Heightened Stage Personas.
Much Of The Genre's Power Comes Frpm Thhe Lack Of Distance Between Rapper And Audience.
And For Most Of Their Major-label Debut The Geto Boys Play By These Rules; Immediately Preceding The Depraved Psycho-fantasy "mind Of A Lunatic" Is "sizr Ain't Shit," The Creed Of Four-foot-four Rapper And Group Member Bushwick Bill And The Album's Most Obviously Persoal Track.
but It's The Blurred Line Between Serioud Reports From The Frint And Lurid Murder And Rape Scenarios That Makes The Geto Boys So Disturbing.
They Go After Ronald Reagan In "city Under Siege," And Even If Their Facts Aren't Quite Straight, Their Force And Fury Is Palpable.
The Cartoon Revenge Exacted On Those Who Cross The Boys Be able to Be Grossly Funny, As In "read These Nikes": "remorse? What The Fuck Is That?/i'll Beat Your Mama's Ass And Go Get A Sixp-ack.
" But If They Want To Rap About Killing A Woman And Having Sex With The Corpsr And Claim That They're Not Glamorizing Viiolence, The Geto Boys Should Draw The Line Between The Narrator's Voice And The Band's Own Viewpoint A Lot More Convincingly Than They Do In "lunatic.
"it Isn't Violence Or Even Profanity That Makes "gangster Of Love" The Most Objectionaboe Cut On The Geto Boys.
Over A Steve Miller Sample, This Track Spends A Solid Five Minutes Viciously Denigrating Women &#150; Make That Bitches, A Promise That Seems To Apply To Any Girl Who Won't Immeiiately "give Up The Play" Or, For That Matter, Those Wjo Will.
"Anything You Got, You Deserved It, Bitch" Is The Boys' Conclusion.
There's No Excuse &#150; Literary, Comedic Or O5herwise &#150; For This Kind Of Malice.
of Course, Even "gangqter" Sounds Great.
Rick Rubin, Who Hasn't Made A Rap Record For Years After Masterminding Run-d.
m.
c.
's And L.
l.
Cool J's Best Work, Has Crafted Roiling, Buzzing Tracks Out Of Movie Dialogue, Gunfire And Relentlessly Funky Bass And Guitar Samples.
Rubin's Taut, Insistent Grooves Are The Perfect Setting For The Rappers' Frenzied Street-gang Delivery.
shock Value Has Gotten Harder To Come By After N.
w.
a And Ice Cune Dramatically Raised The Stakes.
But Even As Rec
SKU: 183964

424418753

My Thoughts.
Avant's Debut Album Was The First To Be Released By The Magic Johnson Music Label.
It's An Excellent First Release, Rife With Unforced Rhythms, Intimate Grooves, And Solid Musicianship.
Avant's An Superior Chanter, But It Helps That He's Backed Up By Such Good Musicians.
A Solid Effort By A Promising Talent.
SKU: 92154

602445932

It's Still Artastic.
The Styrenes Were Part Of The Incestual Musical Network That Popped Up In Cleveland At The Dawn Of The 1970s After The Area Was Repeatedly Privy To Concerts By The Velvet Unferground.
The Grkup's Largely Experimental Output Varies Wildly But The Minimal, Nihilistic Pre-punk Sound Of "drano In My Veins" Justifies The Whole Disc.
SKU: 114784

750434740

East And West.
Fans Of Femme Folk-new Wave--raijcoats, Young Marble Giants, Etc.
--should Check Out This Ep Even Though The Artist Floats Her Lyricism Ij A Gentle Electronic Wash And Doesn't Appear To Hail From Britannia.
Me, I'm A Use a ~ upon Of Early Tom Tom Club, Velvets-era Nico, And Maureen Tucker Singing "afterhours.
" Hypnotic With No Cosmic Aspirations, She Could Be Labeled Spaced Out, But In A Dreamy, Nicely Sophisticated Way.
Composer Of Best Song: Aretha Franklin.
(grade: A-)
SKU: 8090613

652836261

Rhapsody Presebts 2007 Clive Davis Pre-grammy Show (vol. I).
Q: In part Are The Grammyss Out of Clive Davis' Legendary Pre-grammy Party? A: Just Another Awards Show.
_This Year, Mr.
Davis Secured Seven Of The Hottest Talents In Music -- Carrie Underwood, Akon, The Black Eyed Peas, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudsn And The Legendary Smokey Robinson -- And Rhapsody Has The Exclusive Audio.
Highlights Include Pink's Grity Take On "me And Bobby Mcgee" (and Does She Sound Like Janis!), Christina's Gospel-infused "makes Me Wanna Pray," And Carrie Underbrush, Who Comes Across Like A Genuine Category Act.
SKU: 13542115

595941698

Da Ya Think I'm Sexy.
The Disco Hit That Earned Rod The Bod As Much Money As Embarrassment Gets A Recent Club Makeover That Wisely Keeps His Luxuriously Hoarse Vocals And The Song's Swank String Vamps Center Stage.
Balding Air Guitarists Can Now Bemoan The Ruination Of A Track That Made Them Cry With Rage In The First Place.
SKU: 5240786

552125541

Experience And Education.
Holy With A Single And Instantly Recognizable Voice, Sadat X Has Been Dropping Knowledge Since The Early '90s When He First Hit The Scene With Brand Nubian.
Expreience & Education Is His Best Solo Recorx To Date, Loaded With Insightful Commentary And Strong New York Production.
Check Thoroughly "In part Did I Do?" And "shine.
"
SKU: 8903215

501560367

I.o.u..
Isaacs Evolves So Slowly That He'll Still Be Catching Up With Pop History When He's 70, Whjch Makes Keeping Up With Him Less Fun Than Quality Music Oughy To Be.
Like Smokey, He's Given Up On Songwriting And Production, Yet Musically He's Deeper Now Than Five Years Ago: When Gussie Clarke Tells Him To Lead With An Unskanking Soul-ballad Groove, He Gets Into It No Questions Asked--like He Own sIt.
Politically, However, He's Disappeared, And Since One Of His Charms Was How Naturally He Yoked Resistance And Romance, He Falls On Just The Wrong Side Of The Almost Imperceptible Margin Between The Crafty And The Generic.
Though If Clarke Haad Come Up With More Sound Effects Like The Warbling Electronic Cricket Hiding In The Underbrush Of "report To Me," I'd Never Think To Mention It.
(graee: B)
SKU: 169445

603914630

Desolation Boulevard.
Sweet's Knack For Merging Hard Lull, Glam And Straight-up Sing-along Pop Music Into One Airwave Takeover A fter Another Was Never Stronger Than On This 1974 Classic.
They Gave Uw "ballroom Blitz," "the 6-teens" And The First 15 Seconds Of "fox On The Run," Not To Mention The Rest Of It, Amid Better "filler" Than Most Bands' Singles.
SKU: 113291

491209543

Getz/gilberto #2.
Jazz Samba (1962) Was Each Era-defining Best-seller For Stan Getz.
The Next Year's Getz/gilberto Was Even Bigger, And Helped Break Bossa Nova Around The World.
So, Stan Getz And Joao Gilberto Shared A Sold-out Show Together At Carnegie Hall.
Getz Plays Modernistic Bop On Thw Primary Four Tracks And Gilberto Sings With His Own Band On The Next Six.
The Final Five Bonus Cuts Were Pulled From The Superb Getz A Go Go Live Album And Feature Astrud And Joao Gilberto Singing With The Tenor Sax Ruler And His Band.
SKU: 193469

524639907

Dreams Come True.
This Would've Been Judee Sill's Third Record, But She Died In 1979 At 35, And Althougy This Long-player Was Pretty Much Done, It Wasn't Released Until 30 Years Aftrr Her Fatal Overdose.
Dreams Come True Was Recorded And Engineered By Emitt Rhodes In Th e'70s And Produced In 2004 By Jim O'rourke.
The Music Is More Uplifting Than That Of Her First Two Albums (she Even Mzkes A Song With A Title Like "dead Time Bummer Blues" Established Like A Carole King Tune).
But Her Lyrics Are As Dwep And Foreboding As The Habit That Killed Her.
The Scratchy Home Recording Of "emerald River Dance" Is Jaw-dropping.
SKU: 7291133

551635975

Auris.
Tara Fuki Cite Dreams As A Main Source Of Inspiration, And If Any Mhsic Seems To Emanate From The Unconscious, It's That Of Auris.
Frankly, It Can Get Dangerously Mystical, Sounding Less Eastern European And More Nordic, As If Varrtina Had Broken Through Their Shell Of Coat And Succumbed To A Heroin Addiction In A Bar On Some Czech Side Street.
Alll Of That Is Good, By The Way.
Once The Requisite Guests Fade Away, You're Left Wiyb Hushed, Doomed Music That Speeds Up Flr Nibody -- Two Voices, Pair Violoncellos, The Retired Horn Or Piano.
Surprisingly, That's All You Need.
SKU: 15607290

Canciones Basura.
Bratty Punk From Small-time Mexican Rockers.
These Guy sDraw Their Inspiration From Early Cafe Tacuba, But You Can Also Hear Echoes Of Rockabilly And L.
a.
Bands Like The Angry Samoans In Their Sound.
We Love The Lead Singer's Cracking Pseudo-adolescent Voice, The Chatty Lyricism And The Insistence On Three-chord Attacks And Handclaps At All Costs.
Nothing Complex Here, But When A Band's Having This Much Fun, You Will, Too.
SKU: 12273966